Cigar-box



(No Model.)

E. VALLENS.

GIGAR BOX. No. 376,689. Patented Jan. 17

UNrrEin STATES PATENT Critica..

EUGENE vALLENs, E cHicAGo, ILLrNoIs;

CIGAR-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 376,689, dated #Tanuary 17,1888;

Application tiled September 29, 1887. Serial No. 251,010. (No model.)

which will secure the cigars from being broken and injured; and my invention consistsin the features and details of construction hereinafter described and claimed. n

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan view of one of my improved sample-boxes with some of the cigars removed and the remainder of the cigars held tightly together by a portion of my improvements, which Ishall term the cigar-holder, and showing a cushion or lining on the inner surface of the box to afford a slightly-yielding contact with vthe ends of the cigars and protect them from injury. Fig. 2 is an end view of one of my improved sample-boxes containing two trays for holding cigars, with the end of the box removed; and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional'view of my cigar-holder.

A is the box; B, the cigar-cushion; C, the

` cigars; D, the cigarholder in its entirety; E,

a xed pointed end on the holder;'F, a movablepointedend; G, a spring by which the movable pointed end is thrown out when the spring is released; H, a slotin the outer shell or barrel of the holder; I, a handle 'extending from the inner shell or barrel ofthe holder up through the slot; J, a fixed lug or ear on the outer barrel or shell of the holder, and K v a receptacle at the end of the box for carrying and receiving the holder' when not in use.

In making my improved sample cigar box or case I take a box like those ordinarily used for that purpose and arrange a cushion, B, along its inner sides, where the ends of the cigars will rest. This cushion may be a strip of cloth, felt, or other soft and yielding material. It is not of great importance what the material be, so long as it affords a soft and yielding cushion against which or into which the ends of the cigars may be pressed and the cigars prevented from sliding back and forth endwise, or the ends relieved from the injury which they receive from striking against a hard substance, like the wood of the box. Nor am I particular as to whether the cushion be pasted or otherwise arranged along the sides of the box, so long as it isolates the ends of the cigars from contact with the wood.

To prevent the cigars from rolling and jostling aboutin the box after one or more of them have been removed, I providea holder which preferably consists of two tubes or barrels, of

which the one may be inserted or slid into the other. I term these tubes respectively the outer and the inner77 tube. The end of VVeach of these tubes which comes into contact with the box is pointed, so as to be inserted slightly into the wood and prevent the holder from being accidentally or unintentionally displaced. The outer of these tubes is provided with a slot, and the inner tube is provided with a handle that extends out through the slot, so that it may be drawn backfor pushed forward along the slot. Theouter -tube is preferably provided with a lug or ear,

J, to afford a purchase for the thumb when it is desired to draw the handle I back along the slot. A spring, preferablyof coiled wire, G, is arranged in the tubes, so that as the inner tube is drawn back by pressure'on the handle I this spring will be compressed so as to force the tube out again when the handle is releasedv from pressure. The end of the slot near the lug or ear J is preferably enlarged to form a recess, R, into which the handle I may be caught and held when it is drawn entirely back, and thus prevent the spring from forcing the inner tube out until the proper time.

The construction, arrangement, and operation of the various parts of the holder will be so apparent from an inspection of Fig. 3 of the drawings that fnrtherdetailed'description will be unnecessary. I will simply add that the essential idea of thisfholder is'to have its. partsadapted to be drawn together endwise,

so as to shorten its length at pleasure, and extended endwise so as to increase its length at pleasure, in order torelease its pointed ends from contact with the sides of the box'when it is desired to move the holder from one point to another, and to force its pointed ends into ICO contact with the sides of the box when it is desired to fix itin any given place. This idea is embodied in the particular form of holder described; but, as various mechanical changes can be made Without requiring invention, I do not wish to limit myself unnecessarily to mere mechanical features. To pack the holder in the cigar-box when the box is full of cigars, I provide a receptacle, K, at the end of the box, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in which the holder can be placed until needed for use.

In the use of my improved sample cigar box or case I pack the cigars in the box in the usual way, with their ends resting against or pressed into the cushionalong the sides of the box. When one cigar or more has been removed from the box, I take the holder and place it against the remaining cigars, pressing its fixed point slightly into the wood or cushion and release the handle from the recess R at the end of the slot in the outer tube. The spring, being thus released, will force the inner tube out and its pointed end slightly into the Wood or cushion at the other side of the box. It will then be in the position shown in Fig. l. Should more cigars be removed, the holder is removed by drawing lthe handle I back along the slot,.the holder again placed in position, and the spring released. This operation should be repeated as often as the cigars are loosened by the removal of one or more.

What I regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination of a cigar-box and a contractile and extensile cigar-holder movable within the box and against the cigars remaining therein after the removal of some, whereby they'may be held in place and prevented from jostling androlling, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a cigar-box provided with sides cushioned on their inner surface to afford a slightly-yielding contact with the'ends of the cigars and protect them from injury, and a contractile and extensile cigar-holder, with its pointed ends forced into the cushion, movable Within the box and against the cigars remaining therein after the removal of some, whereby they may be held in place and prevented from jostling and rolling, substantially as described.

EUGENE VALLENS. Vitnesses:

M. L. CoHN, FRED ROTHSCHILD. 

